The borough's biggest private employer has handed a petition to the council in protest at the sale of Brighton Road car park.

Reed Business Information, which has its headquarters at Quadrant House in Sutton and employs 800 staff, submitted the 267 signature-strong document to the council in protest ahead of last night's Strategy and Resource meeting.

At the meeting, representatives from the company said up to 250 of its staff use the car park everyday and it fears the sale of the car park will not only have a negative impact on staff, adding "up to 40 minutes" on commuting time, but will also leave nine floors at Quadrant House empty due to the exodus of Subsea 7.

Subsea 7 occupies nearly half of the building next to Sutton station, but it has bought the car park and plans to demolish it and move staff over to a newly built office on the site.

Dominic Feltham, Reed's chief operating officer, said the plans were "very concerning" and sounded his disappointment at what he saw as a lack of consultation with the company before the sale was proposed.

He told the meeting that he worried about the ability to attract and retain new employers to the building in the economic climate, and without a nearby car park for employees.

Mr Feltham said: "To re-let that nine floor space to a company would be nearly impossible, it could remain a vacant space for many years which would have an impact on the company and staff."

Leader of the council, Councillor Ruth Dombey, told the meeting she understood there would be an "inconvenience" to staff at Quadrant House, but said the decision to sell the car park was taken in the best interests of the borough.

Conservative councillor for Sutton South, Tony Shields, voiced his concerns about what he saw as the "inevitable" impact of the car park sale - that RBI staff would park in residential streets in his ward.

The committee agreed the council should offer a ten per cent discount at Gibson Road car park to current season ticket holders of Brighton Road and that bulk company discounts be transferred over.

Liberal Democrat councillor for the ward Richard Clifton said the discount; "Tackles the fears of local residents that drivers will park in streets, outside the controlled parking zone, and walk to the station or town centre instead of using the Gibson Road car park."

"The jobs that will be created by the Subsea7 investment in Sutton are important for the local economy; not just jobs for engineers but also skilled and semi-skilled jobs which local people could fill."